


All He Could Do

by uaigneach



Series: 2020 Handwritten Pieces [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Bad Parenting, Child Neglect, Drabble, Gen, Ghosts, Human Experimentation, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Revelations, That's right guys, Unethical Experimentation, is this what y'all wanted, this is becoming a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23149627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uaigneach/pseuds/uaigneach
Summary: Mr. Lancer was a teacher first and foremost. He taught English to ungrateful teenagers, and he was in charge of the safety of his students while they were under his care.But he wasn't blind.He knew that there was something wrong with Daniel Fenton.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Mr. Lancer, Danny Fenton & Sam Manson, Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley
Series: 2020 Handwritten Pieces [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1664104
Comments: 19
Kudos: 1437
Collections: Finished111





	All He Could Do

**Author's Note:**

> hey, so it's been a long while, but to those who really liked the other outsider perspective I posted like... years ago, here's the long awaited sequel!
> 
> shoutout to [FMAgirl123](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FMAgirl123) for giving me the inspiration to write this

Mr. Lancer had been Daniel Fenton’s English teacher ever since Daniel first started at Amity High. He remembered (and he mourned) the Daniel Fenton that had existed before ghosts started crossing into their plane of existence and wrecked havoc.

From the conversations Mr. Lancer had had with Daniel’s former teachers—

(an event that had occurred because the Fentons were so incompetent at their sole job that teachers had to be trained in how to handle a _ghost drill and evacuation_ )

—he’d discovered that he’d been far from the first one to question. But despite how incredibly incompetent the Fentons were, they were smart, and no one had enough evidence to do anything. The fear was always if they fucked up, would they have a dead teenager on their hands?

As it was, that gray area was rapidly getting a lot grayer.

In his freshman year, Daniel had been quiet. He’d worn this one stained red hoodie almost religiously, never even taking it off for physical education. When he did speak, it was with a soft and uncertain tone, so very polar opposite to both of his parents and their boisterous attitudes. It was even vastly different than his older sister, Jasmine Fenton. Where she was an arrogant genius — practically a carbon copy of her mother — Daniel was shy and an average student. He enjoyed reading and had all of two friends in the world. When Lancer had been able to coax it out of him, Daniel had incredibly insightful (and incredibly sad) comments about their current texts.

Ms. Manson had very clearly been the leader of the pack. She’d had strong opinions and was never afraid to speak her mind. Growing up with money had taught her that she could. She would hold frequent debates with Daniel, causing him to voice his arguments despite the fear of Dash Baxter.

Mr. Foley was also more outspoken than his friend. He butted heads frequently with Ms. Manson, but it was plain to see that they cared for Daniel. They played up their respective teenage antics, desperate to make him feel like he was a normal kid even for just a few hours. They knew, and just like everyone in Daniel’s life, they were utterly powerless to do much more than slap a veneer of “everything is fine” on him at the start of the school day.

Sometimes, Mr. Lancer felt guilty for not doing anything or even asking about Daniel’s rather concerning essay topics. Instead, he’d just given him the marks he deserved and hoped that it was good enough for his parents to not care. Jasmine Fenton certainly seemed to care. She’d been the one to show up for Daniel’s parent-teacher meetings.

Daniel’s other teachers confirmed his observations. He was quiet and withdrawn, but he tried his best even if it only resulted in a mediocre performance.

It was the other stories that they brought up with that were concerning.

The jacket turned out to be a new thing as of high school. Previously, he bared his wounds for all to see. His middle school records were littered with a history of broken bones and bruises. But Daniel was clumsy. Daniel got picked on at school. How could they prove that it was the Fentons and not a playground bully?

How could they know that Daniel wouldn’t lie to protect his parents?

Jasmine showed no signs of any kind of abuse.

Mr. Lancer had his own stories to share. Moments caught in the hallway watching Daniel shake as he clutched a barely passing math test; a glimpse of raised red lines along pale forearms.

Mr. Lancer didn’t want to know why he decided to start wearing a jacket, and he was afraid of why.

But years of watching in the background and catching what they could abruptly took a turn in Daniel’s sophomore year.

One day, everything was normal — Daniel’s bullies greeted him outside of school jurisdiction and away from security cameras, Ms. Manson and Mr. Foley fought about their diets, and Daniel sat quietly through all his classes.

The next day, the three had walked into class with an odd air about them. For once, Ms. Manson and Mr. Foley were subdued. But it had been Daniel that had caught his attention. Daniel had always been pale but on that day, he’d looked like all the blood had been drained from his body. He looked sickly and Mr. Lancer had hoped that it was nothing more than the flu.

The paleness had only deepened, and a strange chill seemed to settle around Daniel. He didn’t seem to be affected by it all that much, and it was such a bizarre suspicion. So, once again, Daniel said nothing.

Then, the ghost attacks started, and Daniel’s performance plummeted.

The Fentons were busier than ever, smug about being right all along, and as gun happy as ever. They enjoyed the hunt and screaming about how ghosts were nothing more than evil abominations. They wanted test subjects.

The behaviour of his parents also brought out a change in Daniel and by extensions, a change in the relationships he had with people.

Almost overnight, he’d found a quiet confidence (although most days there was a dark shadow that hung behind his eyes that made Lancer doubt whether or not what he saw was confidence at all). He took on a leadership role when ghosts attacked and quickly stole the spot of head from Samantha Manson. He talked back to the group of popular kids and he seemed to form a genuine sibling connection with Jasmine. At the same time, his grades began to plummet, and his attendance was abysmal. He’d run out of the class at seemingly random intervals. Mr. Lancer simply couldn’t make sense of the change.

It puzzled him beyond belief. He’d only been able to connect some dots when Daniel came up in conversation in the staff room. Or more accurately, the Fenton Theory.

When Mr. Lancer had first heard whispers of it, he’d scoffed. Admittedly, he hadn’t known all that much about the troublemaking teenaged ghost InvisaBill or Danny Phantom as he insisted on being called; but he’d thought he’d known Daniel Fenton. He might be more confident now, but surely he hadn’t followed in his insane parents’ footsteps. Surely he wasn’t a ghost because he sat in Mr. Lancer’s classes and interacted like any other _human_ student.

And then he took a closer look.

The biggest piece of evidence for Lancer? Danny Phantom aged.

It was such a minute detail, especially in the face of all other coincidences, but a universal truth about ghosts was that since they were dead, they didn’t age. Some might consider Ms. Manson and Mr. Foley’s involvement but Daniel’s lack of involvement despite his vocal opinions a bigger piece of evidence. Hell, even the superficial identical appearances, voices, and common names might be more compelling. But the simple fact that Phantom’s appearance changed to match that of Daniel’s over the years was what pushed it from coincidence to solid theory.

Everything else pretty much fell into place after that. Daniel’s absences lined up with ghost attacks. The scars on his body that were now all too visible, were shared by both Phantom and Fenton. The lack of sleep and innate paleness came from the fact that ghosts attacked at night too. The chill came from the fact that he was a ghost.

It was the most confusing and troubling part of the Fenton Theory. Phantom was a ghost. Phantom had died. Daniel was still here.

When he voiced this concern to other members of the staff as a token protest to what they knew was true, someone brought up an even more concerning reality.

Between running around like deranged psychopaths, the Fentons were also scientists. They wanted to capture a ghost for experiments. Some would consider it very fortunate that Phantom and his team were the ones actually capturing the ghosts. But the Fentons were scientists and their youngest child showed signs of abuse. It was easy to put two and two together.

Phantom wore a hazmat suit.

Who knows what the Fentons had going on in their basement? Obviously they didn’t know Phantom’s identity, otherwise Mr. Lancer very much doubted that they’d ever see Daniel again. All the same, clearly some experimentation _had_ happened. It just must have had slower results that the Fentons were anticipating. Daniel had been able to hide the symptoms.

He can’t even begin to imagine how terrifying it must be to have your parents threatening to tear you apart molecule by molecule over and over again; all the while knowing that if his parents ever discovered that the ghost they were hunting was actually him, that they would show no mercy…

No wonder Daniel acted the way that he did.

After the shutdown of the Fenton Theory website, there was no more denying the truth of the matter.

Somehow, Daniel had died in mysterious enough circumstances that he didn’t completely turn into a ghost. Daniel Fenton lived in fear of his own parents and had for practically his entire life.

For a teacher, who’s duty was to protect and nurture the children under their care, that was a tough pill to swallow.

Danny had never been a particularly gifted student, but based on his home situation (and the fact that he very regularly saved all of their lives) the staff of Amity High decided to cut him some slack and try to offer him as many accommodations as they could.

Some also made it a point to be particularly uncooperative with the elder Fentons.

It was all that they could do for the youngest Fenton. If they said anything, there was too high a chance of his parents finding out.

As awful as it sounded, Mr. Lancer didn’t want to be the reason why one of his students died ( _even if for Daniel it might already be too late_ ). There were days when he wanted to throw up at the accusatory looks that Samantha Manson shot him, but he stuck to his resolve. Daniel wanted normalcy. He could offer him that much.

It was all that he could offer him.


End file.
